Improvement in locks for express-bags, sgc



NITED STATES EDWARD A. LOOKE AND WILLIAM B. MASON, OF BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS.

PATENT OFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN LOCKS FOR EXPRESS-BAGS, 86C.

Speciiication forniingpart of Letters Patent No. 86,560, dated February2, 1869.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Beit known that we, EDWARD A. Locxn and WILLIAM B. MASON, of Boston, inthe county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented anImprovement in Locking Express- Bags, &c. 5 and we do hereby declarethat the following, taken in connection with the drawings whichaccompany and form part of this specification, is a description of ourinvention sufcient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

The invention relates to the construction of a lock or bolt forexpress-bags and similar articles, the device being so made and appliedthat, while the bolt may be readily slipped into position to securelyfasten the bag, it cannot be slipped from position, and can only beremoved by destroying it--that is to say, by iirst cutting it asunder,and then removing the two parts in opposite directions. It is in thisconstruction that our invention consists.

A shows a side view, and B a top view, of a bag fastened with ourimproved lock or bolting device. C is a section on the line x D, asection on the line y y E, a section on the line z z,- F, a plan; Gr, anedge view, and H v an end view of the bolt.

A denotes an ordinary express or mail bag, having a iap, which turnsover the mouth of the bag, and a strap, b, passing through staples c,which project through slits cut in the bag. At thev movable end of thisstrap is a plate, d, in which is a slot, through which pro- A jects abutton, f, said button being turned into line with the slot to slip theend of the strap over and off from it, and at right angles to the slotto secure the strap to the button. The shank of this button projectsfrom a plate riveted to the bag, and from the same plate (or fromanother plate riveted to the bag) projects a box, g, made of metal orother suitable material, which is bored or cut through from end to endfor the reception of a plug, h, which is brazed or otherwise permanentlysecured in the box g. Lengthwise through this plug extends a thin slot,t', for reception of the shank k of a bolt, Z. This bolt is made of thinsheet metal or other material, with a long strip of even width, la, anda head, m.

Through the button j is a slit, n, just long and wide enough to receivethe bolt-shank 7c,

this slit being in the same plane with the adjacent end of the slot c',which lpasses through the plug h. The slot c' is in two parts, the partnext to the button f being in the plane of the button-slit n, as justnamed, and extending in this plane to the center of the plug, orpartially through the plug, but the opposite part of the slot being in aplane angular to the first part, as seen at E, two shoulders, o, beingformed in the plug at the junction of the opposite parts of the slot, byreason of this difference in the planes of the respective partsthereoi', or the angular position of one relatively to the other.

When the bag is closed and to be locked, the end of the strap is carriedover the button, the button is turned, the small end of the bolt isslipped through the button-slit, and thence into and through the slot inthe plug. Now, the bolt-shank is made with two notches, p, on itsopposite edges, as seen at F, these notches being situated at a distancefrom the head m of the bolt corresponding to the distance from thebutton f to the shoulders o. These notches reduce the width of thebolt-shank, so that the end of the shank beyond the notches is readilytwisted or bent relatively to the rest of the shank, as seen at H, thepliability of the metal enabling the shank to be easily twisted.

When the shank is pressed through the plug its end readily slidesthrough from one part to the other, there being no obstruction to itspassage 5 but, as its end slides into the angular part of the plug-slot,it is bent thereby, and when the part beyond the notches p has passedthe shoulders o any attempt to draw back the bolt brings the edges ragainst the shoulders, so that it is impossible to withdraw the bolt.

It will thus be seen that the bag cannot be unlocked without firstdestroying the bolt, the head m preventing further forward movement ofthe bolt, and the shoulders in the plug preventing its back movement.

To unlock the bag, the bolt is severed between the button and the plug,the headed end being then drawn back out of the button, and the notchedend forward from the plug, the extreme end of the shank projectingbeyond the plug, as seen at A. The bag is thus fastened only to preventrobbery by persons intrusted with the care ofthe same in transmission,it being, in fact, an identifying or deteotive lock, which, beingfastened up before delivery for transmission, cannot be unlocked andthen again locked by the carrier; and the bolts may not only beinaccessible to all but the party or parties for whom the bag istransmitted, but they may be consecutively numbered, or have otherspecilic identifying characters marked or stamped thereupon.

The plug is made in halves, each half being made with the two inclines,to form upon the face of each the stop or shoulder 0. I shows a sideview ofthe two halves placed together.

W'e claiml. A plug or socket-piece made with the relatively-inclinedslots and the stops or shoulders, by means of which the end of the boltpassing through the plug is so twisted that if drawn back it will bearrested by the shoulders or stops of the plug, substantially asdescribed.

2. We also claim a bolt which, by, being slipped into such plug orsocket, is so twisted and bent that it is prevented from being drawnback, substantially as described.

EDWARD A. LOGKE. WILLIAM B. MASON. Witnesses:

WM. N. WEEDEN, J. B. CROSBY.

